Despite having the best offseason in franchise history, the Philadelphia 76ers' additions of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, along with five others, will have their work cut out for them. The 2026-27 76ers have a long road ahead of themselves, and success isn't necessarily promised despite putting together an impressive roster.

While perennial All-Star forwards James and Brown will join forces with Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe, the 2026-27 76ers will need time to become a powerhouse team, as ESPN's Bobby Marks noted on The Hoop Collective Podcast.

“It's hard to put a crystal ball on them,” Marks said. “The only sure bet is probably Maxey and Edgecombe, right? Those are your two. And how much better VJ gets, and Jaylen. The likelihood is Jaylen's extension-eligible this summer for one year. Likely, they're not going to extend him by October 19. Then, you can say, well, wait a minute, what happens next year when he's got two years left? There's a lot of ifs.

“Philadelphia's great on paper. If I just came from somewhere else and I didn't know what was going on, and I looked at the roster, I'd be like, wow, this is really good. But I think there's a lot of questions. I would say they're in a better spot than they were in April. But there are questions as far as where this is going to go.”

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The 76ers will most likely find some level of success this upcoming season. However, how dominant Philly will be a topic of debate, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.

“I am very interested and excited about what Philly's going to be this year,” Windhorst said. “They may win 58 games, which I think, will probably get the number one seed. They may win 44 games — I don't know which it's going to be. I'm just going to point something out. They have seven new players. Several of them are the type of players that require a lot of adjusting to in Jaylen and LeBron. Even though I think both of them have proven that they can play with other star players effectively.

“Just as a reminder, the Miami Heat in 2010 started out 9-8. The Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014 started out 19-20. They were under .500 at midseason. The 2018-19 Lakers missed the playoffs. This is a LeBron thing. When LeBron has arrived, it's taken a while.”

Windhorst isn't arguing that the 76ers are getting the same version of LeBron James as in the 2010s, which ultimately led to two Miami Heat titles and one with the Cleveland Cavs in 2016, but he's wary of how successful the 76ers will be in LeBron's first season in the City of Brotherly Love.